Attack on Titan: The 4th Warrior
by N3wDayS
Summary: The re-imagining of the Attack on Titan manga/anime with a huge twist that changes the flow of the story and ultimate outcome of the characters in the story. Follow William Schmidt; one of warriors working for Marley, as he wields the first ever shifting titan created by science as he faces the eldians within the walls of paradise island. *\\CONTAINS POTENTIAL MANGA SPOILERS/*
1. Prelude - Creating Potentiality

_**Prelude - Creating Potentiality**_

 **Welcome everyone to my re-imagining of the Attack on Titan series! It's gonna be a long ride so strap on in. Leave your comments or concerns in the reviews! I'll be sure to read them all. This chapter should basically just serve as an introduction to the context of the story.**

* * *

"Tell me, Henry, do you believe that everyone is born with potential?" said the well groomed man. He stood tall and confidently before Henry, with a pronounced jawline, his dark eyes and his black tuxedo, the man conveyed the look of a classy man. Henry stood there for a moment, he eyed the man standing before him.

Henry put down the page he had been reading onto the desk behind him and turned back towards the man, "The natural human response to that question would be yes; every human being is born with potential." Henry answered, facing away from the man standing before him; almost as if he was too scared to look him in the eye. "However…" Henry added, "We both know that isn't actually the case. You were the one who taught me that, after all." He finished, finally looking the man in front of him in the eyes.

The man that stood before Henry gave a small smile before he began talking, "That's right, Henry." the man's smile turned back into a neutral expression that was almost void of emotion, and it sent a chill down Henry's spine. "We eldians… We will never be born with potential." the man continued, making motions with his hands to emphasize his words. "You know well that our race deserves extinction, we are the devils of the world."

Suddenly, the man paused and walked closer to Henry. "But even so, I do not wish to die. I wouldn't wish death on any eldian." he continued as he approached Henry even closer. "I can not wish death on a race if I too do not wish to die, it is truly a dilemma." the man finished, now just a metre away from Henry.

"I… Understand that, Willy. But what does that have to do with potential?" Henry spoke, his tone filled with a hint of confusion. "Tell me, Henry, what if we could… Create potential?" Willy spoke with a sudden tone of curiousness. Henry once again stood in silence, eyeing Willy over once again. Willy eyed him back intensely, demonstrating his seriousness in the aforementioned question.

"Create… potential? Willy, what are you saying?" Henry finally spoke, breaking the intense silence in the room; his voice was filled with doubt and confusion. "What's more is that I still don't understand how that ties back to your talk about your talk about us as eldians…" he added, letting out a sign and shaking his head.

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, Willy closed the distance between himself and Henry and grabbed him by the collar of his vest. "Listen to me, Henry." Willy spoke with a firm and confident voice, "I know what you're capable of. Although we said humans aren't born with potential, you built that potential through your studies. You're a genius, Henry, and you know that." Willy finished, letting go of Henry's collar. "So what if we created potential for all of the eldians? Just like you created your potential." He began using his hands again to emphasize his words, "But I don't want academic potential, no, honestly I could care less about that. What I need is to create potential in power." Willy finished his sentence and than stared at Henry directly in the eye, "I want you to create a titan."

Henry could do nothing but stare at Willy, his jaw practically on the ground. He was filled with confusion, fear and doubt. He took another moment of silence before finally formulating some sort of response, "Create… a titan? A-Are you mad? Do you even understand what you're saying?" Henry waited for Willy to answer him for what felt like forever, but Willy simply stared him down. "Willy! What would we even gain from creating a titan?" Henry demanded an answer.

"I know what I'm asking of you, Henry." Willy finally answered him, with a frown. "I know that the current nine titans exist because of Ymir's death. To think that we, mere human beings, could create such a titan is foolish." Willy finished, filling the room with silence once again. "Even so…" he spoke, his voice shakier than before, facing the ground. "I believe… That we can create a direct replication of the powers that Ymir once wielded." Willy continued, lifting his eyes up from the ground with new found confidence, "I know it won't be easy, but with you, Henry, I know it'll be possible. Do you remember that theory you brought up a few years ago at that meeting?" Willy finished, waiting patiently for Henry to answer.

Henry repeated what he had done multiple times before in the conversation, looking with concern at Willy, standing in silence, before finally answering. "...The titan blood theory, is that what you're referring too?" Henry asked. Willy simply nodded, "I see… I stopped working on that theory a long time ago, Willy." Henry let out a disappointed sign and walked up to one of the many bookshelves in the room. After quickly sliding his fingers along the lines of books he picked out a dusty red book. Walking back over to Willy, he offered him the book. "That book is probably my finest work, it's the only reason I'm relevant here." Henry exclaimed, letting out a slight chuckle as he did so, he remembered the times he spent day after day, night after night working on his theory.

"From what I remember… A brief summary of it would be something along the lines of; through delicate and precise blood samples taken from individuals who possess the split power of the original founding titan you can create a new blood type. It's still unknown why the blood does it but only very rare and hard to execute combinations can be done. After one of the first ever samples was created, it was immediately tested on a human being; more precisely, on an eldian." Willy paused for a moment and tightened his fist, "The results were… Catastrophic, the experimental blood type began killing all of other blood cells and repopulating at ludicrous speeds. The human test subject died within thirty minutes. As such, the project leader, Henry Schmidt, cancelled the project and refused further funding." Willy finished, a little bit of sweat dripping from his forehead, looking at Henry for confirmation.

Henry stood in silence, his eyes were filled with regret as he looked towards the floor. "That is the bare minimum, yes… I'll never forget that day. I'll never forgive myself for what I did to that test subject." Henry clenched his fist, his voice was shaky. "H-However… There's something that I never told anybody... " Henry suddenly added. Willy gave a small look of confusion and interest as Henry spoke those words. "Although the test subject did indeed die… The experimental blood cells didn't. They live on to this day."

Willy's eyes opened in shock as he got closer to Henry, "What?! Henry, you announced that the experimental blood type was lost at that meeting, it's the only reason the council allowed you to stop working on the project! What's the meaning of this?! Why did you lie?!" Willy shouted at Henry, but Henry didn't show fear or concern, his face remained one filled with regret. "Answer me, Henry!" Willy shook Henry's shoulders.

"...After I found out that the blood cells had in fact survived, I learned about another terrifying fact." Henry spoke, his tone no longer shaky, but emotionless. "The test subject wasn't dead either." Henry finished, unable to look Willy in the eyes. Willy simply stepped back in shock, unable to speak. "At least, that's what I had first thought…" Henry suddenly added, "The test subject was more like… A host at that point. His original self truly was deceased." Henry finished once again, gently taking the book from Willy's hands. He set the book down on the desk, running his fingers along the cover, "I'm not sure who it was that talked to me that day… But, they told me why what happened, happened." Henry opened the book and flipped through a few pages before he landed on page 114, "When we inserted the blood, we documented that it began essentially killing the other blood cells in the body. However, that wasn't what was actually happening. The truth is, something that was beyond my comprehension took place." Henry looked at the page for a few more moments before fully closing the book. "That blood actively examines each individual blood cell in the human body and determines whether or not the person is suitable for the role." Henry finished, finally facing towards the shocked Willy once again.

Willy stared at Henry in shock and confusion before barely forming a sentence to respond to the abnormal story that Henry had described, "You're telling me… The blood took over that subjects body… And talked to you?" Willy paused, thinking for a moment, "Is that even possible…?"

"I'd hardly blame you if you didn't believe me, Willy. Quite frankly, for the longest time, I didn't believe myself. The complex combination of blood I performed created something alive… And it terrifies me. That's why I refuse to go through with creating a titan. I'll never subject someone to the torment of being judged by some sort of experimental blood cell." Henry declared, finally regaining his posture and calming his nerves.

As Henry finished his sentence, the room was engulfed in complete silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the ticks and tocks of the grandfather clock in the room. Willy placed one of his hands on his forehead and began to reflect on what he had just been told. Henry's expression remained one filled with regret, he still couldn't look at Willy in the eyes; he knew that the information he had kept from the Tybur family could easily cost him his life. Henry told Willy this information despite that fact purely because he trusts him more than anyone, the two of them share a unique bond.

"Someone just has to pass that examination… That's all, right?" Willy finally broke the silence, his voice was quiet yet assertive. "If someone were to pass the examination done by that blood cell… We'll have created a shifter through science." Willy finished, finally setting his arm down and looking towards Henry. Henry stood there, his face that had been filled with regret quickly shifted to one of shock.

"Willy… Y-You're joking, right?" Henry shakily asked.

"I've never been more serious in my entire life." Willy quickly retorted.

Henry had to step back a bit. "Willy, w-we can't… There's too much at risk here. This is about more than just you and me…" Henry spoke, looking Willy right in the eyes as he did so. "Do you understand what'd we'd be risking here? What would the council do if they found out about this?" he continued, his voice getting louder and louder.

"If we have success, the council won't be mad at us, Henry. They'll praise us. We'll be crowned as the most intelligent eldians alive." Willy spoke confidently, almost as if the shock he had felt before was all a mirage. "With this… We can create potentiality." he finished, clenching his fist.

"B-But… Who? Who would meet that criteria?" Henry asked, his voice filled with concern.

Willy grinned for a moment. "There's a certain somebody… A certain somebody that just so happens to meet that condition of power." Willy began, he rose his arm and moved it from time to time to emphasize his words. "One that came oh so close to being powerful enough… But fell short at the last moment." he continued, "One that, with said failure, has mentally reached a level of power more impressive than even the chosen few."

"N-No! Willy you don't mean-...!" Henry lunged forward a bit towards Willy in concern.

"There's a certain somebody that came so close to becoming a warrior. But in the end, the others proved more capable. It would be a waste to throw away his potential… Wouldn't you agree, Henry?" Willy finished, a full on grin formed on his face.

"Willy… I won't allow this… You don't seriously mean…"

"That certain somebody… The next test subject for this titan created purely by science…" Willy paused, looking towards Henry for a moment to make sure he was looking at him.

"Henry, it's none other than your son… William Schmidt"

Silence engulfed the room once again.

"Come, Henry. Let's change the world."


	2. Chapter 1 - Our Duty as Warriors

_**Chapter 1 - Our Duty as Warriors**_

* * *

"Sleep well, William… You've… Earned it…"

The wind blew gracefully against the young boy's face, his slightly curly undercut hairstyle of a light brown color shook, like grass in the wind, enjoying the view of the empty green plains before him. He wasn't really sure why he was so taken in by the view, the feeling just overwhelmed him, and now he was frozen, unable to avert his eyes. It was as if something in his mind clicked when he saw the scene before him. "Peace…" he thought to himself, it was the only word that came to mind as he viewed the vista. Still captivated by the view, the young boy didn't even notice the footsteps coming from behind him.

"...William?" a young, blonde girl called out calmly. The young boy turned his head around for a moment to confirm who had called out his name, he was quickly distracted by the scenery before him and his head turned back towards it. The young blonde girl let out a small sign as she pushed aside some hair that had blocked her vision. She walked up next to the young boy and took a look at the view for herself.

"What are you doing?" She asked, turning her head towards the young boy.

"...Just thinking." the boy replied, he seemed at peace.

The young girl hesitated for a moment before letting out another sigh.

"What are you thinking about…?" She asked, quietly.

The young boy stood there for a moment before finally taking his eyes away from the vista towards the young blonde girl. "A lot of things, I don't think I can really narrow it down…" Suddenly, his expression turned sorrowful. "I thought about… My father." he added, quietly.

"...I see." the young girl responded, turning back towards the scene before her.

"I'm still grateful for what your father did for me." the young boy added, turning back towards the scene as well.

"It was only natural that he would take you in when your father had to go away for such a long time… Your father and mine were close." the young girl responded.

The young boy's sorrowful expression changed into a small smile. "In some ways… I'm glad father went away for work… I got closer to you thanks to that."

"..." The blonde girl turned towards the boy again.

"But… No matter what I tell myself, I can't help but think about how long he's been gone." the young boy added.

As William finished his sentence, silence finally returned to the scene. The young blonde girl turned back towards the vista and the two of them stood there in silence for what felt like hours to them. It seemed as though even the girl had been captivated by the sight. The young boy calmly turned his head over to look towards the blonde girl.

"Hey… Annie?" the young boy broke the silence, getting the young blonde girl's attention.

"...Hm?" Annie mumbled, seemingly trying to break out of the vista's captivating grasp; She turned towards Williams.

"You don't usually come see me without a reason, did something happen?" William exclaimed, seemingly curious as to what Annie came here for.

"...Oh, right…" Annie let out a sigh and pushed away some hair that had blocked her vision. "There's actually is a reason I came to get you." Annie took a quick view at the scene before her once more before turning back towards William. "I suppose I was distracted for a moment." she finished.

William let out a small chuckle, almost as if he was happy that she was always true to herself; even if she could be cold at times.

"Mr. Yeager is gathering all of the warriors together, something about high command announcing a state of emergency." She paused for a moment, "For some reason, he wanted me to bring you to the meeting."

William hesitated to speak for a moment, his expression turned confused, "Bring me to the meeting…? You do remember I wasn't selected, right? ... I don't belong anywhere near you guys." he finished, his expression slowly turning sorrowful again.

Annie let out a sigh, "What kind of attitude is that? That's not like you at all, William." she spoke, much more assertive than before. "I don't care if we're "warriors" now, you're still William as far I'm concerned, you belong next to us till the day we die." she finished, adjusting her hair once again.

"...Hah… I'm Sorry, Annie. You're absolutely right." William replied, realizing what he had just said.

"If you really want to know why you're being summoned, you're just going to have to come along with me." Annie said, turning completely away from the beautiful vista; without any hesitation, she began walking away, seemingly headed towards the meeting's location. William stood there for a moment, watching Annie walk away. He took a deep breath, looking at the vista one last time. Turning around, he takes a quick jog to catch up with Annie.

"You know, if your hair's bothering you, you should really get it cut." William exclaimed as he caught up to Annie. She simply let out a scoff as William said those words. "What? I'm serious. I know you like that style but if that hair ever gets in your face when you're doing something serious you'll be in big trouble." William went on about Annie's hair length.

"It's none of your concern, William." She exclaimed after scoffing again. "I've spent my whole childhood training with this hairstyle, not once has it hindered my performance." she added, twirling her front bangs a bit. "If you're so concerned about hairstyles, maybe you should be worried about yours." she added.

"What's wrong with my hairstyle?" William asked, turning his head towards Annie as he walked.

"...It doesn't suit you." Annie answered with a serious tone.

"That so? You're the one who helped me decide to cut it like this..." William sighed, turning his head forward. "...Has everything been going alright since you were selected?" William asked, grasping for something to talk about with the not so talkative Annie.

"It's been fine." She answered quickly, skipping straight to the point. "What about you? I haven't seen you much since selection day." Annie exclaimed, still not turning to face towards William.

"Not great, it's boring really. I know our training camp was tough but, it was essentially my purpose in life." he paused for a moment, "I guess Reiner really was better than me in the end…" William let out a sigh as he finished that sentence; he could see Annie slightly glancing over at him curiously. "Hey, I'm not jealous or anything like that, I'm just… Disappointed... I spent basically my whole life training to become a warrior for dad." William added, clenching his fist tightly. "I just… Really wanted to be part of the warriors, I wanted to make my father proud." he finished.

"Stop that." Annie blurted out as William finished his sentence. "Just because you weren't selected, it doesn't mean your life is over. I never forgot that night, William. The night you told me how you really feel about all of this." She added, keeping an assertive tone throughout the whole sentence. "Why waste your time sitting around, plugging your feelings in and doing nothing?" she finally finished.

William was caught a bit off-guard, but he knew that what Annie was saying was the truth. "...It's not as easy as that anymore." he finally spoke, speaking in a sorrowful tone. "Back then, I had you and Reiner behind me." he added, a pinch of regret laying there in his words.

"I've never once lied to myself. I always do what I believe is my decision. I don't care if it's selfish or cold, rude or disrespectful… What matters in the end is that you're you, right? Then you can truly say you're living for yourself." She exclaimed, never turning her eyes away from the route in front of her. William couldn't help but turn his eyes towards her as she spoke.

"Right…" William looked down for a moment and clenched his fist tightly, "But I really do want to be a warrior… I wanted to take on the armies who would dare oppose our nation." he exclaimed further.

"Support the nation that sees us as the devils? I see." Annie retorqued before William could even continue.

"Annie, that's-" William was cut off before he could finish.

"We're here." Annie pointed forward, a rather fancy looking mansion built mostly from wood stood not too far ahead of them.

"..." William remained quiet as he looked at the distant building.

"Time to find out what this is all about." Annie exclaimed as she continued to walk towards the mansion. Bringing his head out of the clouds, William shook his head and followed quickly behind Annie towards the building.

Annie pushed the door open, "It's me." she exclaimed, walking in and signalling William to follow her. William, almost reluctantly, followed Annie into the building. As William entered the building he was in a large, lounge like room that looked rather polished and clean. A table located in the center of the room sat a group of individuals.

On the left side of the table sat Reiner Braun; a young, blond haired boy with hazel eyes. He sat in his seat with more confidence than most of the people sitting at the table. William and Reiner were very close competing rivals in the warrior selection program and as such they essentially grew up together. Although their rivalry was filled with conflict, Reiner and William seem to have a large amount of respect for each other.

Right next to Reiner sat the young Bertolt Hoover; a slightly taller and slender black haired boy. Although not to the same extent, William and Bertolt gained a certain respect over each other during the warrior selection program. However, both Bertolt and William would often argue about the well being of Annie and many other things concerning her. Although this visibly frustrated Annie, the two continued until the end of the selection program.

Across from them sat Marcel Galliard; a shorter, black haired young boy who also took place in the warrior selection program. Unlike both Reiner and Bertolt, William had far less of a connection with Marcel. During the selection program, Marcel often hung around his brother and didn't often work with William. However, when they did work together, they seemed to cooperate well.

Beside Marcel sat Pieck; one of the older selected warriors, Pieck had black hair tied up into a ponytail. Like Marcel, Pieck had very few interactions with William. However, when they did speak, Pieck often treated William with sympathy and respect for his situation concerning his father; as such, William has a mutual respect for Pieck.

Finally, sitting at the end of the table, supervising all of the selected warriors sat Zeke Yeager; another one of the older of the selected warriors, he stood taller than the other and had pale blonde hair. During the selection program, Zeke often pulled William over to talk to him about his father's work and many other things in secrecy. They formed what William would describe as an unbreakable trust for one another.

The five of them turned their heads to look at William in silence, it didn't take long for Zeke to break the silence. "Glad you could make it, William." he exclaimed, opening his hand towards one of the empty seats at the table. "Why don't you two take a seat?" he added, giving William a slight smile. William nodded and quickly took the seat closest to Zeke. Annie followed behind him and sat next to William.

Zeke placed his elbows onto the table and used the top of his hands to support his head as he leaned in, "I'm sure all of you are curious about why William is attending this meeting." Zeke glanced around at everyone's eyes, all of them fixated on William. William simply kept his eyes on Zeek, he was also extremely curious. "As all of you know, there are a total of nine titan powers that currently exist in the world: The founding titan, the attack titan, the war hammer titan, the colossal titan, the female titan, the beast titan, the armored titan, the jaw titan and the cart titan."

Everyone in the room gave slight nods of acknowledgment, everything Zeke had said was something they had known for years. Zeke paused for a moment, closing his eyes. Suddenly, he rose up from his seat and placed his hands on the table, "Well, today, that fact is about to change." Zeke added, everyone in the room gave him confused expressions. "According to the higher ups, a breakthrough has been made. They've found a way to successfully create a titan through science.

William almost immediately rose from his seat, "Is that true?! Then surely my father was involved!" he shouted out, everyone looked towards him in a bit of shock from his sudden outburst. William looked around the table for a moment and regained his composure. "Apologies, Sir, it's just… I haven't seen my father for a long time." William added.

"...I understand, William." Zeke exclaimed, relaxing his stance to express his understanding. "However, I don't know the major details of the project. This was strictly kept away from me." William sat back down, disappointed; Annie shot him a look as he did so. "But, I think you'll have all the time in the world to learn about if he was involved." Zeke suddenly added, William quickly looked up towards Zeke, "After all, you're the one who's going to be yielding this titan created by science." Zeke finished.

"...Me?" William asked, conflicted about what he had just heard.

"Hold on a second, Zeke! What about my brother? Wasn't he-" Marcel tried to question Zeke but he was cut off almost instantly.

"They said it had to be William, no exceptions." Zeke interrupted

"...I-I see…" Marcel finished, calming his stance.

"Now then, I should probably also tell you something, William." Zeke exclaimed, turning towards William as he did so. "The truth is, there's actually a high chance that you won't survive the process. The higher ups are putting their confidence in your willpower but the truth is; the possibility is there," Zeke added. William eyes slowly opened wide in shock of said fact. "But… If and only if you survive… You'll be made an official part of the warriors and you'll join us in our most recent assignment." Zeke finished.

"Our most recent assignment? Sir, is there something we don't know?" Reiner eagerly asked. Although still in shock, William slowly turned his head towards Reiner.

"That's why I've gathered you all here today. It's time for me to explain our most recent assignment. William, you're free to stay here and listen before you make your final decision going through with all of this." Zeke explained, placing a few papers in front of him on the table; William simply nodded his head, still extremely conflicted on what to do.

"Around 13 years ago, I sold out my father to the marleyan forces. My father, a member of the eldian resistance, tried his best to brainwash me with their eldian ideals." Zeke paused for a moment and sat in silence, looking down at the papers, before finally continuing again. "The price for his insolence was a sentence to paradise island; he should have been turned into a titan and that would have been the end of it." Zeke paused once again.

"However… After Grisha was sent away, we also learned that one of our valuable titan abilities had been stolen." As Zeke spoke these words, the groups eyes lit up in shock. "To be specific, the attack titan was the titan that was stolen. A traitor to marley, the true leader of the eldian resistance: Eren Krueger, stole it and took it with him to paradise island. He has yet to return and the higher ups are sick of waiting." Zeke paused again, allowing everyone to regain their posture.

"There is another objective as well." Zeke broke the eerie silence and began to speak again. "Marley have not been in possession of the founding titan and it's abilities for as long as we can read in the history books. During our visit to paradise island, not only must we retrieve the attack titan, but also the founding titan and its coordinate ability." Zeke turned his face upwards from the pages on the table and towards us.

"That is the nature of this mission. We will directly attack the eldians and retrieve what belongs to Marley." Zeke concluded his briefing as they re-entered the eerie silence; Most of the warriors in room not even able to look at one another. Zeke slowly turned his head towards William before speaking again. "Well, William? When we in the selection program you seemed eager to want to work for Marley. Here's your chance to shine. Will you do it?" Zeke asked him with utmost seriousness.

William suddenly felt the eyes of everyone in the room lock onto him, truly the spotlight was lit over his seat. William pondered deeply over what there was to gain and what there was to lose. It was his father's work, and yet, if it were to fail he would never see his father again. He would never get a chance to live… "Live…? Have I really been living up to this day? What's my purpose in life? Why do I wake up every morning?" William pondered in thought. "Purpose... Father… I'll make you proud."

"I object-" Annie was cut off almost instantly.

"I accept." William was the interrupter.

The room entered silence once again. "Where do I begin, Sir?" William asked, turning to Zeke. A single drop of sweat, slid down Annie's cheek.

"Luckily for you, right now." a man with blonde and straight hair spoke as he entered the room from the hallway with two guards next to him. Everyone at the table turned towards them. "Thank you, Zeke. Everyone is dismissed besides William." the blonde man exclaimed. Zeke simply nodded and signaled everyone to follow him out. Annie gave one last look towards William before the group left the building.

The room was filled with silence as the blonde man eyed William for a few moments, William sat in his seat and waited patiently for him to speak. "You do realize what you're doing, right?" the blonde man finally spoke, taking a few steps toward William, "You realize that you could be sentencing yourself to death?" the man added, stopping several feet away from William.

"I understand, sir. I'll do what I must for Marley." William exclaimed, doing his best to hide the obvious fear that leaked from his body in the form of sweat.

The blonde man chuckled, "No need to be all courageous in front of me. If I were in your position I would be beyond scared as well." he paused for a moment before continuing. "But, if you truly feel as though you're okay with this, let's begin." the man signalled William to stand up and follow him. "The chamber in which we'll be working on you is in the basement floor of this secluded mansion." he added as he did so.

William quickly followed behind the man, "Is there any reason in particular we're in such a secluded building, sir?" William asked.

"Knowing that there is a good possibility that things may go wrong, keeping these kind of things away from the public benefits us all." the blonde man responded rather quickly. "We're calling it "Operation Scarlet," you're father decided that one." the blonde man added, showing a small smile.

William simply nodded and continued to follow the man. He led him down the stairs into the cold basement of the building; it felt damp and the air weighed down on him. To William, it felt more like a prison than any type of experiment room. Regardless, William followed blindly at the chance to be the product of his father's work. Though, one thing was on William's mind:

"Where… Is my father?" William suddenly asked aloud.

For a few moments, the blonde man did not respond.

"He's away, working with one of our partners in another part of the world." he finally responded.

"Has his research truly brought him that far?" William was both happy and disappointed with this response, however, he decided not to show the latter emotion to the blonde man.

The blonde man chuckled once again. "Yes, your father is one of the most intelligent individuals I've ever met. It was inevitable that he would be requested outside of Marley."

William simply smiled a bittersweet smile, he was happy that his father was doing so well in his research, but he was also disappointed that he may not see him for quite some time.

"Here we are." The blonde man spoke again, pointing towards a door on the right. William nodded and entered the room; the blonde man and the guards entered behind them. The room somehow felt even damper than the hallway William had been in a moment before, he felt a chill run up his spine as he examined the room; sitting at the middle of the room was a rather large chair made out of metal with two set of arm restraints located on the arm rests.

"Last chance, William." the blonde man spoke as he opened up the cupboards and prepared himself, "Once we begin, there's no turning back." William stood there for a moment in silence, thoughts flooded his mind like a tsunami. He questioned what he was about to do, was it worth it? What did he gain out of it?

"..." William continued to stand in silence.

"William? Your decision?" the blonde man asked.

"I'll… I'll do it…" William exclaimed, shaking and sweating as he did so.

"Your courage is incredible, your father would be proud." the man responded, signalling to take a seat in the chair.

William nodded and walked over to the large metal chair and took a seat, laying his arms on the arm rests. "I'll have to ask you to take off your shirt as well, part of the experimentation." the blonde man spoke, putting on some gloves. William nodded again, taking off his shirt and handing it to one of the guards; as he laid back in the metal chair he suddenly got the chills as the cold metal touched his bare back. The two guards walked over and tightened both the right and left restraints respectfully; William attempted to move his arms gently to no avail, he was truly and surely restrained.

The blonde man pulled out an empty syringe, dipped it in a red scarlet like liquid William had never seen before and filled the syringe with it; he walked over to William, "Are you ready?" he asked. William's heart pounded at a million miles per second, thousands of thoughts rushing through his mind. Eventually, he was able to calm himself and nodded.

"You know why you're doing this, you NEED to do this… Not just for him… But for her and for all of Marley."

After all…

"That is our duty... as warriors."

With this thought, William had fully accepted whatever fate would be determined in the next few moments... and the needle was injected.

* * *

 _ **Hey everyone! Apologies for the super long wait for this chapter. I should hopefully be able to be more consistent in terms of uploading. For now, let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**_


End file.
